02.27.08

Kudos to the St. Louis Cardinals organization for proving that while they’re powerless to stop their manager from driving drunk, they’ll not tolerate similar behavior from one of their players (presuming he’s alive to punish). From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tim O’Neil :

An arrest warrant has been issued by the Irvine Police Department for Cardinals utilityman Scott Spiezio (above, first from right) on six charges stemming from a crash in late December.

The warrant alleges driving under the influence, driving under the influence with a blood alcohol content of .08 percent or more, hit and run, aggravated assault, assault and battery.

This afternoon, the Cardinals released a statement saying, “The ballclub is immediately releasing player Scott Spiezio in response to a six-count arrest warrant issued for Spiezio today.”

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa told an Associated Press reporter in Jupiter that he did not have specifics on the warrant and had not spoken to Spiezio.

“I had heard there was an incident in California,” La Russa said. “I didn’t think anything would come of it.”